‘Refugee woman’: a dangerous label

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that the majority of refugee women experience rape and sexual and gender based violence as part of the refugee experience. This paper is based on research currently being undertaken in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, examining the occurrence of sexual and gender based violence experienced by refugee women and the inadequacy of the international protection regime to address this phenomena. It is acknowledged that it is a complex and multidimensional problem. Here, just one aspect, that of the concept of identity and intersectional layers of oppression, is used to explore the failure of the International refugee protection regime to protect many refugee women seeking asylum in camps and other refugee sites. It is argued that the label of ‘refugee woman’, which carries with it multiple intersecting and compounding layers of oppressions, in itself becomes a major risk factor leading to the rape and sexual abuse experienced by so many refugee women. Others facets of the phenomena will be explored in the course of the research in an attempt to identify a comprehensive solution to the protection needs of refugee women and girls. Who am I? I am a refugee. I am …a dirty woman, hopeless, a hungry person, an ignorant person, a troublesome person, yet again another burden for the world to feed, another burden for the world to care, that is who they say we are …BUTbeing a refugee is not by choice, if it is a choice I wouldn't be a refugee anywhere. Looking at myself, I believe I am not a victim, but I am a survivor, a very strong person, a refugee woman.Sudanese Woman, Resettled in Australia, ANCORW & AWHRC, Sydney 2001.

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